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THE SUCCESSFUL STORAGE 
OF CABBAGE 



AND OTHER VEGETABLES 

By Chas. J. Cook 




COPYRIGHT 10I7-CHAS, J, COOK 
YANKTON. S, DAK. JULY 5th. 1917 



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STORING THE VEGETABLE CROP briefly slated means just 
this — be yotir own business man— be your own speculator, with the 
odds all on your side. On all classes of veg'etables, in five j'ears out 
of six, (with the possible exception of potatoes) values double and of- 
ten treble from the time these commodities leave the yiower in the fall 
until the time they reach the ultimate consumer a few months later. 
And, especiallj' is this true of Cabbage, because it is the most diffi- 
cult product in the vegetable world to store successfully, and this is 
aijparently the reason the average farmer consig'ns most of his crop 
to the kraut barrel, and the commercial g-rower is usually g-lad to 
"cut loose" as soon as the big- wholesale bu3ers (speculators) from 
the city make an appearance. These fellows make a practice of bny- 
ing- froin the grower in carload lots and accunuilating* their pur- 
chases at some central distributing- point, or wherever thej' maj' have 
adequate storage facilities. Generally market prices are depressed 
at the harvest season as a natural result of the common practice of 
the inajority of growers to sell direct frona Ihe field oftentimes 
"swamping" tlie market. With a better tinderatanding- of the merits 
of storag^e and the installation of storag^e facilities on the premises of 
the truck farmer conditions could gradually be overcome which are 
almost intolerable. For instance, the averag-e price paid in the fall 
varies from $5.00 to $20.00 per ton; however, deals from the latter fig-- 
ure up as high as $40.00 per ton were made quite frequentlj- during' 
the late fall of 1910, this being- an exceptionallj- short-crop cabbage 
season. Bj' a comi)arison of these figures with the price paid by 
the consumer during- the winter and si)ring- months, rang-ing froin 
3c to Gc per pound, and as high as 17ic per pound at Yankton and 
elsewhere in the spring- of 1917, there is no doubt but what everyone 
will readily come to the conclusion that there are enormous profits 
to be derived through equipping- ourselves with ample stoiag-e rooms 
for our own products, and that a thorough investigation of scientific 
storage will l)e greatlj- rewarded. 



CABBAGE is tlie most difficuU of all vegetables to keep for anj- 
length of time inasmuch as it is composed about 7o% of moisture. If 
it is placed in a warm room, naturally, evaporation will soon reduce 
the head to a pulp. If piled in a heap, as we would store potatoes, 
the larg-e amount of moistiu-e will cause it to heat and decay just as 
a bin of wet grain would do. The method which I have found to be 
most satisfactory- and which I am now using- is this: I have a spec- 
ial apartmetit alotted for cabbage and cabbage onl}'; in this apart- 
ment I have built frames made of ordinarj' heav^- posts and 2x8's as 
joists. The joists are spaced two feet apart verticallj'. On these 
joists I lay a loose floor (or semi-floor) using- 2x4' s and spacing- them 
about four inches apart. The floor is put in place as I lay away the cab- 
bag-e. The idea in spacing- the floor is to allow the air to circulate all 
around and between the cabbag-e. Otherwise, it will heat and decaj'. 
This g-ives me a shelf, or rather a frame-work of shelves, two feet 



m 15 1917 



apart, and as it is impossible to ]a3' the heads intact it will leadilj' be 
observed that there will be an air space above each tier of cabbag^e. 
This space permits circulation of air all around the cabbage. I main- 
tain a temperatiire of about 36 degrees above Fahrenheit, and never 
allow it to g-o over 40 degrees or below 30 deg'rees. An even temper- 
ature is essential as it affords less evaporation. Slightlj^ freezing- 
will improve the qualitj', though if it is allowed to freeze and thaw at 
different intervals, this will have a tendency toward impairing- its 
long keeping- qualities. I always remove the roots and practicallj' 
all surplus leaves when placing- on shelves, leaving- just enoug-h 
leaves as to allow a final trimming- when the heads are being- packed 
for market, as this g-ives a brig-hi, clean, fresh appearance. It is best 
to remove the crop from the field into storag-e in the afternoon, or at 
a time when they are dr)'^— too much moisture is the cause of decay, 
and especially is this true if storag-e room is kept warm. I never har- 
vest my crop untill the latter part of October and often as late as the 
first week of November, whenever it is cool enough so that tempera- 
ture can be lowered suflicientl}' in storag-e room. A large ventilator 
in the form of a sk3'-light is installed in the center of each storage 
apartment. Good and efticient ventilation is essential. 



WHEN IMPOSSIBLE TO MAINTAIN A LOW TEMERATURE the 

placing- of each head seperatelj^ in a wrapping-, or several wrapping-s 
of paper, (oiled paper is preferable) will aid rnateriall}^ in protecting- 
the keeping qualities, inasmuch as this will have a tendency toward 
preventing- direct exposure to radical changes in atmosphere, thereby 
preserving- the natural juices. Tfie adherrence of roots and leaves and 
hanging- up by loots is a very common practice. With this method 
the usual coveted point is the preservation of moisture, and I doubt 
whether it is as practical and desirable as wrapping- in paper. On 
account of increased bulk mucli more storag-e room is required. 



THE AVERAGE FARMER OR SMALL GARDENER who is not 

equipped with proper storage cellar will undoubtedly be interested in 
a good out-door method of wintering- cabbage; take an ordinary plow 
or lister with which provide a deep furrow — in this furrow line up the 
cabbage roots up, cover over with dirt and then a lieav^3^ layer of straw 
or litter to prevent alternate freezing and thawing before j^ou are ready 
to unearth in the spring. The soil should be allowed to draw out the 
frost gradually, or thej' can be removed when in a frozen condition 
and allowed to thaw out slowly in a cool room not warmer than 40 
degrees above Fafirenheit. They will come out fresh, crisp and in 
excellent condition. Considerable success is attained by digging 
larger trenches and piling the cabbage in pja-amids, but they are 
more liable to heat and decay if kept in this manner. 

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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ONIONS must be kept in a cool, dry n 002 763 786 3 
or an}' other source of moisture. Teinperature should be maintained 
at 40 to 45 deg-rees above Fahrenheit. They should be placed on 
shelves or arrang-ed in such a way so that thej' can be stirred up 
occasionallJ^ I have had fairlj' good success storing' in bushel 
crates and stirring- them around by removing- from one crate into 
another at different times throughout the winter. This loosens them 
in the crates and permits circulation of air more readily. Onions 
should always be well cured and thoroughly drj^ when placed in 
storag-e. 



CARROTS, PARSNIPS, ETC, should be placed in bins practi- 
call)' the same as potatoes. Temperature should be held at about 
40 deg-rees above Fahrenheit. A lig-ht covering- of sand or dirt will 
prevent withering- and enhance long- keeping- qualities. 



My farm is located 2i miles West of the City of Yankton. Soil 
is composed larg-elj^ of heavv black Missouri bottommuck, ideal cab- 
bag-e g-rowing- soil, but a trifle too heavj-for growing other vegetables 
with success. Consequently, I am specializing- on cabbag-e. I have 
constructed a solid concrete cellar measuring- 20x44 feet. M3' entire 
crop is placed in storage and I find little trouble in making- sales at 
very satisfactory prices. I have a steadily g-rowing- list of shipping^ 
customers in adjacent territor}^ besides supplying all of our home 
trade reg-ularly tantil new cabbage appears on the market. In fact, 
I have a sale recorded made on Ma}' 15th to the South Dakota State 
Hospital for One Ton of Cabbage. 



NOW, that a universal food shortag-e threatens our country, I 
trust that these few lines will help man}' in keeping down the hig-h 
cost of living-, and that we will all do away with the usual practice 
of transferring our surplus vegetables to "old bossy" at the harvest 
season, just because they are cheap and plentiful. Let us SAVF) and 
KCONOMIZK and thereby "Do your bit" toward feeding the world. 



Yours respectfully, 

CHAS. J. COOK 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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